Environmental performance of an urban passenger transport system and influencing factors: A case study of Tianjin, China

The environmental performance of an urban passenger transport system (EPUPTS) is the positive influence on the natural environment generated by the urban passenger transport system. It is affected by many factors, including its inputs and the inputs of transportation facility manufacturers. This paper analyses the interaction between EPUPTS and its influencing factors taking Tianjin, China, as an example. EPUPTS in Tianjin is evaluated by a combination evaluation method at first. Then this paper uses a vector auto-regression model to analyze the dynamic relationship between the environmental performance of the urban passenger transport system and its inputs and the inputs of transportation facility manufacturers separately. The results show that 1) EPUPTS was stable in Tianjin but still has a specific space for improvement; 2) compared to the investment in fixed assets, the input of passenger transport vehicles has a significant impact on EPUPTS; 3) the R&D input of transportation facility manufacturers also has an evident impact on EPUPTS, but this impact was relatively small.

Automated summary

This paper analyzes the interaction between the environmental performance of an urban passenger transport system (EPUPTS) and its influencing factors using Tianjin, China as an example. The EPUPTS in Tianjin is evaluated and a vector auto-regression model is used to analyze the dynamic relationship between the environmental performance, inputs, and inputs of transportation facility manufacturers. The results show that the EPUPTS in Tianjin is stable but still has room for improvement, and the input of passenger transport vehicles has a significant impact on the environmental performance.